What's wrong with my Tomato plants?

[ppp]

I've got couple of young tomato plants from bunnings. Planted in ground around 2 to 3 weeks ago with little fertilizer, blood and bone. Applied seasol once a week so far.

Couple of branches are not greenish, looks yellow and I think some bug attack. 

Melbourne weather is not great in the last week or so, to think about sunny.  Any ideas and suggestions please ?

[Jason]

Hi @ppp,

Let me tag some of our keen gardeners in @Grub80, @Noelle, @timjeffries, @bergs and @robchin who might like to share their thoughts on your tomato plants.

I take it you haven't found any critters on your plants?

Jason

[ppp]

Thank you Jason for your care & time.

I did not find any critters. But I will have a thorough look and update if anything.

[Noelle]

Hi ppp

I take it from the photos that the "damaged" leaves are on the base of the plant, close to the soil? If so, what you are seeing is not uncommon - the lower leaves tend to yellow and die off as the plant increases in height and produces lots of lush new growth higher up. Usually nipping these lower leaves off is appropriate especially if marked or yellowing. I wouldn't be too concerned at present seeing the rest of the plant looks healthy enough.

[robchin]

Hi PPP.
I love growing Tomatoes. One of the questions I always ask is - do my problems really matter? If I have a few holes in the leaves (where some insect has had a feed) and a few yellow leaves - does it really matter?
Yellow leaves like that are normally the sign of a nutrient problem. Looks like it's only on the older leaves though so unless it's all over I wouldn't be worried about it.
If you have them in full sun and you keep the fertiliser up to them - these little problems won't cause you long term stress.
Final bits of advice: Don't water the foliage - water the soil to prevent humidity and leaf problems and companion planting is good - try planting some Marigolds or other insect antagonistic plants in the same area.

[ppp]

Thank you both Noelle and Robchin for your suggestions. I've learned something new now.
Relaxed and hoping for great sunny weather :):)

[ppp]

This one was healthy and looks good a month ago. But recently all leaves started becoming yellowish and dropping off. Only 15% of the plant leaves healthy, looking green. It has not produced even a single full ripe tomato yet. All the existing tomatoes are under some kind of bug attack. 

Even I faced this issue last year and posted here : 

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/Garden/What-s-wrong-with-my-Tomato-plants/m-p/33441

I think there is definitely something wrong with soil or fertilizer.  Can anyone please guide me ?

[JaneK]

Hi @ppp 

Tomato plants are outside of my field of expertise. But we are lucky to have the wisdom of great gardeners in our community. All advice gratefully received from @Grub80, @Noelle, @timjeffries, @bergs and @robchin who might like to share their thoughts on your tomato plants.

Are you able to describe the bug that's attacking your plant? Or share a photo?

Here's hoping we can get to the bottom of this mystery.

Jane

[Noelle · Accepted solution]

Hi @ppp 

This is a different situation to last year, when the lower leaves were yellowing.

My guess this year is that the soil in the pot is getting very hot during the day and that is affecting the roots. If the roots are unhappy then the top growth and fruits will suffer. If you want to grow tomatoes in pots, make sure they are BIG pots with lots of potting mix in them - the more mix, the greater the mass and the longer it will take to heat up in the sun. The other option is to grow them direct in the soil where the roots will also be much cooler.

I don't think the problem is nutrition or bug related - there is some bug damage but as @robchin said last time, the damage isn't important if the plants are otherwise healthy and you are picking tomatoes.

Bigger pots and placing them where the plants themselves get good light but the pots and potting mix are shaded during the hottest part of the day will probably make a big difference. Tomato plants don't have to be in full sun to do really well - they just need plenty of light.

Also, use a fertiliser with a boosted level of the trace element calcium to help prevent diseases like blossom end rot. In combination with cool roots, plenty of water and bigger pots, I think you will get much better results.

[Jason]

Great assistance as always @Noelle. 

@ppp: If you decide to repot your tomatoes, Noelle shared some great advice about how-to here - https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/Garden/Re-potting-tomatoes/m-p/57308

Jason